


Advanced Chemistry

by freckleder



Series: Theories of Chemical Bonding [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - College/University, Chemistry AU, Fluff and Angst, Implied Relationships, M/M, adding tags as the story moves along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 18:58:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6717118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freckleder/pseuds/freckleder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Yamaguchi gets accepted into the same university as his older childhood friend, torn in between creating his own path and trying to catch up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Advanced Chemistry

**Author's Note:**

> The actual notes are at the end, I just wanted to say that this is a standalone fic so you don't have to read the prequel to understand anything that's going on. I hope you enjoy!

_Tadashi was seven years old._

He was clinging to his mother’s blouse, refusing to let go while hot tears dripped down his cheeks.

“I don’t wanna go...” he sobbed.

His mother was holding him and was soothingly rubbing his back. “Tadashi, why don’t you want to go? It’s so much fun, you can play with the other kids and I will come and pick you up as soon as work is over.”

Tadashi shook his head, his face red from crying.

“Is there a reason you don’t want to go? You can always tell me”, his mother spoke in a soft voice, the distress of her son causing her just as much pain as him.

Tadashi bit his lower lip, not saying a single word.

His mother gently started to wipe the tears away. “Look, the neighbour kids. See, they are walking to school and they aren’t crying. “

Tadashi looked over the fence to the house next to theirs. He had seen the two blond boys before. He had wanted to ask them if they wanted to play with him before but he never did because they were already a lot older and intimidating. Their mother was seeing them off.

She saw Tadashi crying and gave them a sympathetic look. “He doesn’t want to go to school?” She asked with a worried expression.

Tadashi’s mother shook her head. “No, it’s about the after school care but my husband and I both work and we can’t leave him alone at the house.”

“Oh, if that’s the case Kei and Akiteru could watch him if it’s just a few hours? They’re thirteen and fifteen so I’m sure they are going to get along.” She pointed to her sons. “You could come over and see if this would work sometime this week.”

Tadashi’s mother seemed to be thinking about it. They had been over a few times to have dinner with their neighbours or invited them to their barbecues and they appeared to be nice people. She agreed to come over with Tadashi and see if he liked staying at their place rather than at the after school care.

\--

Tadashi hesitantly took one step after another. They were at the Tsukishimas place and he had been told to go upstairs and take the first door on the left while his parents chatted downstairs. Tadashi knocked on the door, once. It was barely a knock, he only grazed the door with this knuckle. He held his breath but no answer came. Tadashi raised his hand again, this time bringing it down a bit louder. He winced at the sound. Still no answer. He wanted to go downstairs again but he could hear his parents talking loudly with the neighbours and he didn’t want to return and be the centre of attention. Tadashi didn’t know what to do so he just opened the door and walked in.

So this was the room of the younger sibling. He was wearing headphones and had a book in his hands, though he didn’t look like he was paying attention to the lines written within it.

“Your mom told me to come here”, Tadashi said slowly. He wasn’t sure if he could hear him or not.

The other boy gave him a once-over and slid the headphones down his head. “It’s fine, sit wherever you want to.”

Tadashi nodded and awkwardly sat down on the corner of the bed. He wasn’t sure what to do so he had a look around. He spotted some dinosaur figures on one of the shelves. “Woah, these are cool! Can I play with them?”

“You like dinosaurs?”

Tadashi nodded. His mom had gotten him a book about dinosaurs with many pictures in it and it included a human as a scale. They were all gigantic.

“We could watch a movie about dinosaurs if you want to? I have a few.”

“Sure.” Tadashi nodded again, happy that the other boy didn’t seem to dislike him.

They both sat on the bed while he set the movie up. “Why don’t you want to go to the after school care?”

It was a blunt question. In that moment Tadashi remembered that he had seen him crying and his cheeks got red from the embarrassment. He hesitated. “You won’t tell my mum?”

The other boy shook his head.

“My friends from school don’t go to the after school care and I don’t know anyone there. The kids won’t let me play with them. They were playing house, but they said my face is weird and I don’t look like them so I can’t be part of the family.” Tadashi didn’t look at him and focused on a pterosaur gliding through the sky. “Most of the time I play by myself.”

“They are pathetic jerks, you should pay them no mind but you can come here instead.” He shrugged as if it was up to Tadashi.

“Yes!” He said a lot more enthusiastic than he should have. “Let’s play again some time.”

 

_Tadashi was eleven years old._

He was waiting for Tsukki to open up the garage door, fidgeting in anticipation. 

“Now remember, you have to keep your hands in your pockets.” He pulled the gate up and made sure that it was secure.

Tadashi nodded eagerly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He looked around in awe. It had taken a lot of whining and begging until Tsukki finally allowed him to come in here. His older brother Akiteru had slowly started to accumulate laboratory equipment over the years, turning the garage into a small home lab. He had left for university this year – to one of the country’s best universities, which Tsukki always emphasized – so now the lab wasn’t in much use anymore.

Tsukki handed Tadashi a pair of safety goggles. “Are they too large?”

Tadashi put them on. They slipped down to his nose in an instant.

Tsukki took them again and put them back on the shelf. “Let me see if I can find a smaller pair.” He smiled while he opened a drawer and rummaged through it. “These are my old goggles, they should fit you a bit better.”

Tadashi tried them on. He shook his head experimentally but the goggles stayed on.

“Let’s go with that.” Tsukki nodded. “Do you want to see the differently coloured flames first?”

“Yes, show me!”

Tadashi watched as Tsukki took a few containers off a shelf, along with a few other devices he hadn’t seen before. He used a small spatula to get a powdery substance out of one of the containers. “First we have to dissolve this”, he put a few droplets of a clear substance on it”, and then we can hold it into the flame and see it change colours.”

He dipped a wire into the now dissolved solution and held it into the flame of a Bunsen burner. Tadashi held his breath as he fixed his gaze on the flame. He took a step back, startled, when it changed from its normal colour to a bright purple. “Woah, how does that work?” he asked after regaining his composure.

“Yamaguchi, your hands”, Tsukki warned when he saw him waving his arms around. He dipped the wire in the solution one more time. “Let me show you again and I’ll explain how it works.”

Tadashi watched in awe as Tsukki tinted the flames in different colours. The deep green one was his favourite. He asked if they could make it into a candle for his room but Tsukki said that that was impossible.

“Tsukki?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we do this more often? I can be your assistant and help you.” Tadashi suggested. He already knew that Tsukki was most likely going to say no but the hopeful note in his voice was still there.

“It’s still too dangerous, you have to be a bit older for that.”

Tadashi pouted. “But you helped your brother all the time too.”

“That’s something different, we’re only two years apart not six like us. I don’t know that much about chemistry anyway, most of the time I was only helping him out.” Tsukki leaned against the bench, folding his hands together in front of him. “I don’t think I’ll be using this lab much.”

“But Tsukki, didn’t you say that you wanted to study chemistry at the same university as your brother?”

“Shh, don’t be so loud. Didn’t I tell you that this was our secret?” Tsukki looked out of the garage to see of someone was around because sometimes his mum would bring them snacks. “It’s not easy to pass the entrance exam of such a university.”

Tadashi nodded. “I remember. But your brother managed to get in, right?”

“Yes, Akiteru did.” Back then Tadashi didn’t pick it up properly but when he thought back at that moment the hint of pride in Tsukki’s voice was unmistakeable. “That doesn’t guarantee that I’ll be able to pass as well, he studied a lot to make it in.”

“If you want to pass shouldn’t we practice some more?” He looked at Tsukki with big eyes, the silent plead written all over his face.

“Yeah, fine, you can help me sometimes.” Tsukki made a resigned sigh but Tadashi could tell that he had a lot of fun too.

 

_Tadashi was 13 years old._

The tree he saw when he looked outside of his window was covered in snow. Tadashi shifted away from the window to prevent himself from looking outside, only to get up and peek outside again ten minutes later.

Tsukki had passed his entrance exam – they had celebrated with a barbeque - and had left for university that fall. The winter holidays had come closer and as soon as Tadashi spotted the red car of the Tsukishimas arrive with Tsukki and his brother he couldn’t sit still. Tsukki hadn’t come home even once during the first few months and he had impatiently waited for his return.

He told himself that he wouldn’t go and bother Tsukki on the first day, since he hadn’t been home for a long time. He wanted to give the family some privacy and not interrupt them. Even so Tadashi couldn’t help but anxiously await the next day. He wanted to know about university, if Tsukki liked it and what kind of stuff they got taught.

The sun set and Tadashi was thinking of all the things he had to tell Tsukki the next day when he saw him walking through the snow over to his house. It was already dark but he could tell right away that the figure must be Tsukki. Nobody would wear headphones for those twenty metres that separated their houses.

It didn’t take long and he heard him walk the steps up, always taking two at a time. He opened the door, not bothering to knock. Tadashi was still standing by the window but as soon as he saw Tsukki he flashed him a bright smile.

“You’re back!” he said happily, sitting down on the bed and waiting for Tsukki to take the place next to him.

Tsukki didn’t return the smile and Tadashi noticed that something was off. Even so, he asked him about school and told him all about university. How he had a lot to do and couldn’t come home earlier.

“We could have a look at the lab tomorrow?” Yamaguchi suggested. He had missed it so much. “Oh, of course not if you have already something planned with your family. I just thought that, you know, maybe, you’d want to as well?”

Tsukki gave him a weak smile this time. “It’s fine, we can go there tomorrow. It’s going to be cold though, so we’ll only have a quick look.”

“Have you learned any cool experiments at uni that we could try out?” He looked at him with big eyes, sparkling with excitement.

Tsukki leaned back on Tadashi’s bed, letting his feet dangle over the edge. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “The first semester is mainly theoretic stuff, I haven’t been in a lab yet. But I already looked up some experiments that you’ll like for sure”, he added before Tadashi had enough time to look disappointed.

Tadashi watched him for a moment, then followed his example and lay down on the bed. The plastic stars he had gotten from Tsukki and Akiteru years ago were only glowing faintly, not getting much sunlight to charge up during the day.

“Have you made a lot of friends? You can hang out with Akiteru and his friends all of the time and you can all study together. I wanna go to university too.” He couldn’t wait until he was old enough to go to university and do all the sciency things just like Tsukki.

“Akiteru failed the entrance exam.”

It was dead quiet while Tadashi looked at the ceiling with big eyes. He wasn’t sure how to react. “B-but didn’t you say he got accepted?”

“That’s what he told me. You can imagine how shocked I was when I asked around if anyone knew a Tsukishima Akiteru who was in his third year and nobody had ever heard of him before. I looked my brother’s name up in the online system but didn’t find anything.” Tadashi had never heard Tsukki speak with such a bland note. He knew the sarcastic Tsukki, or the tired Tsukki, and sometimes he could even hear a slight tinge of excitement in his voice but this was a completely new perspective. “I asked him about what was going on and he told me that he had tried the exam twice and failed both times. Akiteru didn’t want me to be discouraged so he had kept it a secret until I got accepted.”

Tadashi swallowed hard. He didn’t know how Tsukki wanted him to react. “You got accepted, so it wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“Ahh, that’s not the point. You don’t get it yet.” Now Tsukki sounded like an adult. It was true, he didn’t get it. It took him a few years to truly figure out why Tsukki was upset but he didn’t like being told that he was still too young. It was his weak spot and nobody liked facing reality.

 

_Tadashi was seventeen years old._

He bit his lower lip to keep it from trembling as he watched the red car depart. The summer holidays had taken an abrupt ending for him when Tsukki decided to leave two weeks earlier so he could study for a big upcoming exam. Tadashi almost wanted to curse the university for taking away even more of the limited time he could spend with him.

He wasn’t sure if there was an exact moment the feeling of admiration he had for Tsukki changed to something more. He had always looked up to him, yes, but it wasn’t just that. Tadashi had spend countless nights, trashing around in his sheets and not finding a comfortable sleeping position because his thoughts kept him awake. The more he thought about it the more aware did he get of Tsukki. The way he rolled up his sleeves, the prints his glasses left on his nose when he took them off, the rare smiles he only showed to Tadashi.

Tadashi knew that he shouldn’t be thinking that way. He knew better. He thought of the students just one or two years below him as kids so it was obvious that Tsukki had to think the same of him. They often talked on the phone – Tadashi sometimes felt like he knew half of Tsukki’s uni friends personally – and Tsukki never treated him like he was just some kid, but he was a highschooler, still living with his parents and he felt like an ocean separated his and Tsukki’s world.

He had decided that he wanted to go to the same university long ago. It had started out as the childish thought of a kid, the desire to follow Tsukki to wherever he had gone only to realize that his burning passion for chemistry had always been there. After Tsukki left he continued practicing on his own in preparation for the entrance exam. He studied a lot, especially some of the more complex reaction equations haunted him.

Sometimes he would have phone calls with Tsukki until late at night while he explained him how different processed worked. His body would start to feel heavy and his neck ached from cradling the phone while writing but he couldn’t put it on speaker without waking his parents up. Once in a while, when he got really tired and his brain stopped functioning properly, he would curl up on his bed and just listen to Tsukki talk while saying ‘yes’ or ‘got it’ from time to time until he fell asleep.

 

_Tadashi was eighteen years old._

His feet were shaking and he felt sick in his stomach. There was a heavy silence in the hallway, everyone feeling the tension of the oncoming exam. This was no big deal. It wasn’t like his entire future depended on this exam. _Fuck_. Tadashi should’ve brought some sheets to revise with him. Twenty minutes before they would open the doors and allow them into the exam room. They had to leave their bags at a checkroom, only allowed to bring some pens, their ID and something to drink.

Tadashi’s hands were ice-cold while he clung to his water bottle as if his life depended on it. Why did it take them so long? He only wanted to go inside and get this over with. Students were sitting on the floor, their eyes closed while they tried to recall formulas in their minds. Others paced from one end of the corridor to the other. Another one had an entire stack of papers next to him, frantically searching for one particular sheet. When he accidently toppled all of them over he looked like he was about to cry. Tadashi would have shown some sympathy and helped him if he wouldn’t’ have been too busy trying not to throw up.

He followed the example of some other students and closed his eyes, only focusing on the exam. He had studied so hard for this, there was no way he could fail. Right? Tadashi stumbled over something on the ground at an attempt to lean against the wall and accidently bumped into another student. He was huge and Tadashi had to look up to see his face properly.

“I’m so sorry, I stumbled over something”, Tadashi said quickly.

He gave Tadashi a quick smile. “No big deal, don’t worry about it.”

He turned to see what he had fallen over, only to see that it was yet another student. He was sitting on the floor, playing on a PSP.

“Oh god, I didn’t see you there. I’m sorry, are you alright?” Great, he was off to a good start.

The other student turned his head and shrugged. “I’m fine.” The he packed his console up and pushed himself off of the ground. “How long until the exam starts?”

Tadashi wanted to answer but the tall guy on his other side was faster. “It’s going to start in five minutes. I’m Lev Haiba, by the way.” The smile only lingered on his lips for a moment, before his expression turned determined again.

“I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi”, he said, not sure if they were all going to introduce themselves or not.

They didn’t get any further because in that moment the large doors swung open and two examiners stepped outside. It went dead quiet immediately, nobody wanted to miss any instructions. They had two hours to complete the exam, the results would be out in approximately a month.

Tadashi muttered a quick ‘good luck!’ to the other two before he walked in the hall. He took a deep breath. He got this.

\--

Tadashi glanced at the calendar on his desk as if he hadn’t checked the date three times already that day. It was exactly one month after the exam, the results would be send out that day. He hadn’t gotten an email yet but he better looked at his inbox again just to be sure. Still nothing. Tadashi paced up and down in his room before he decided to ask his parents if they needed help with the dinner. Maybe they would send the emails out in the afternoon.

He helped to peel some potatoes and set the table, but his inbox remained empty even after dinner. Maybe that was it. He hadn’t gotten in and only the ones with a spot got an email. Or what if they simply took their sweet time with sending out the results and they’d get them a week later?

Tadashi had almost given up on the idea of getting the email that day when he saw a little (1) in his inbox. The subject said _‘letter of acceptance’_ and he had to turn away for a moment and look at his screen again to make sure it was actually there and not just in his mind. He opened the email and read it twice to ensure that it was his name written in there and not just a mix-up.

Tadashi almost fell down the stairs while running as fast as he could to tell his parents. They made a huge fuss about it and Tadashi was grinning from one ear to the other. He made it in. All the weeks during the summer holidays that he had spent cramming instead of hanging out with friends finally paid off. His hands were shaking harder than during the entrance exam. In two weeks he would start his university career at the same uni Tsukki was attending.

Tsukki was of course the first person he called. He picked up after the third ring.

“Tsukki! I passed the entrance exam!” Tadashi couldn’t contain his excitement. He wanted to take his time but he blurted it out right away.

“Congratulations. You studied so hard, this shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.” His voice was soft, not a trace of the edge it usually had in it. “I’m sure your parents are excited.”

Tadashi grinned. “Yes, they are. We’re going to move all of my stuff to my dorm room next weekend.”

“Are you going back home or are you staying from that weekend on?”

“I’ll stay there right away, I don’t want to make my parents drive around all of the time. I want to take the week to get familiar with the new place and everything.” Tadashi was already looking forward to it. It was scary and exciting at the same time but his curiosity was getting the better of him.

“Need a tour guide?” Tadashi could picture the smile curling around Tsukki’s lips while he spoke. He couldn’t wait until he didn’t have to rely on his phone to talk to him.

“Always.”

\--

Tadashi had applied for a single room at the dorm. He wanted to be social and meet new people, but then again not too social. Since he didn’t have any close friends from school that went to the same university so he didn’t have someone to share his room with, and the thought of living together with a stranger right of the bat didn’t seem like such a good idea. He hoped that he would get to know a bunch of nice people at uni and maybe if they got along they could room together.

The room wasn’t really big. There was a bed in it, along with a desk and two shelves. And not to forget the tiniest bathroom Tadashi had ever seen. On the other hand he was thankful that he had his own bathroom and didn’t have to share one with the whole floor so he wasn’t complaining. There were a small fridge and one hotplate in his room but he did have to share the kitchen with the floor if he wanted to use an oven. The dorm was brand new, apparently it had been rebuild the year before so he was one of the first ones to live in it.

His parents helped him to unpack everything but he already expected to have little space, so he didn’t bring much with him except for some essentials. Tadashi had a weird feeling in his stomach when they left. He wasn’t homesick but it felt odd. Everything had gotten real all of a sudden. The university, the dorm, moving out of home.

\--

Tadashi met up with Tsukki the next day. His heart almost leapt into his throat. It had been a while since he had last seen Tsukki.

“Hey”, he greeted him. “How was your first night at the dorm?”

Tadashi smiled. “A bit weird, it feels more like I’m on a holiday, not like this is the place where I’ll be living for the next semester.”

“That feeling passes quickly, don’t worry about it too much. I’ll show you the campus first and then I guess you need to get some grocery shopping done.”

Tadashi had assumed that things would be a bit awkward at first because he mainly talked to Tsukki over the phone but it was like they hadn’t seen each other for a weekend, not months.

Tsukki showed him the chemistry faculty and the lecture halls where most of the classes were held. The campus was very widespread. Patches of grass separated the buildings, with lots of students making use of the last warm sunrays by having picnics or playing soccer. Tadashi could picture himself laying there with some study materials and a cold drink while the sun warmed his skin.

He was looking around, taking everything around him in. Tadashi was sure that he would get lost a lot but he liked the atmosphere so far.

They decided to leave a tour around the city for another day that week, getting familiar with the campus was enough for one day. Tadashi was glad to have Tsukki with him because he needed a second person to help carry all his groceries back to his dorm. He had planned to have a look around the dorm – supposedly there was a fitness room and even a music room – but Tsukki seemed to have other plans.

“You haven’t seen my place yet, won’t you come over for a bit?”

Tadashi raised his eyebrows. He knew that Tsukki moved from the dorm into an apartment with four other guys. He had heard lot of stories about them but he had never met any of them in person. All he knew was that five guys sharing an apartment, and students to boot, seemed like every landlord’s nightmare.

\--

The entrance was surprisingly clean. Not many shoes lying around and only a bunch of jackets on the coat hangers. Tadashi tried his best not to be too obvious while inspecting everything. There was one large room which functioned as kitchen and living room at the same time, with three doors on the right side and two on the left.

“My room is the last one on the right side”, Tsukki said, answering Tadashi’s unspoken question.

The living room was empty but the moment they walked in someone came out of the second door to the right. Black, messy hair. If Tadashi remembered correctly that had to be Kuroo, also a chemistry student but a bit younger than Tsukki.

“Oh, we have a guest. My name is Kuroo Tetsurou and you must be Yamaguchi, right?”

Tadashi nodded. So he had heard of him before as well.

“Nice to finally meet you, Tsukki has told me a lot about you.”

The moment they started talking the first door opened up with a bang and two other people came into the living room.

“I heard we have a visitor!”

That had to be Bokuto. Tadashi hadn’t been quite sure what exactly “hair styled into two spikes with a ton of hair gel” was supposed to mean but now he got it. The other person that followed him didn’t seem familiar to him, none of Tsukki’s descriptions of his flatmates matched.

“Let’s all sit down before we start the introductions”, Bokuto said and guided Tadashi towards the large couch.

He sat down next to Tsukki, the third unknown person sitting on his other side. Bokuto apparently thought that the couch was large enough for four people, because he didn’t sit down on the armrest like Tadashi had expected but at the very end of the couch, squashing all of them together.

Tadashi had been too busy with everything that happened to be too aware of Tsukki’s presence but the familiar feeling of his heart beating out of his chest had suddenly returned. It was a prickly feeling that made him jittery and nervous inside. Tsukki’s hand brushed against his and Tadashi was close enough to smell the subtle hints of cologne. _God, would they be sitting like this for the rest of the evening?_ He hoped the heat on his face was not an indicator for how hard he was blushing.

“Bokuto, we all can’t move an inch. Why don’t you sit down on a chair just like Kuroo?” said the dark haired guy next to him.

Bokuto was not convinced. “And here I thought you would ask if you could sit on my lap instead.”

“I think I’ll sit on the chair instead, thank you very much”, he said with a deadpan expression and got up.

“Akaashi, no! I can sit in your lap instead if that is what you wanted.”

Akaashi raised one eyebrow, not impressed by the offer, but Tadashi saw a smile ghost over his lips for a second. He had to be Bokuto’s boyfriend, his name rang a bell after all.

“I could sit on the couch so you both can sit on the two chairs next to each other?” Kuroo suggested.

They agreed and after a bit of shuffling and changing seats everyone was happy. Tadashi was giving the pictures on the fridge a curious look when he noticed that all eyes were suddenly on him.

He quickly introduced himself again for the other two. Their names were Bokuto Koutarou and Akaashi Keiji, both chemistry students too.

“Are all of you studying chemistry?” Tadashi asked.

“Oikawa and Sawamura are both studying something else, it’s just us. Tsukki was the lab assistant at a lab we took, that’s how we all got to know each other. We’re in our third year and Akaashi is in his second”, Kuroo explained, a lazy smile on his face. “Feel free to ask us if you have any questions and someone else is _‘too busy at the moment’_ “, he made an imitation of Tsukki’s voice”, we’re always happy to help.”

He earned a shove from Tsukki, who reached over Tadashi and then just kept his hand on his shoulder. Tadashi immediately tensed up but he hoped Tsukki didn’t notice it. “Thank you, that’s so nice of you.”

Kuroo leaned back, giving him an expectant look. “But now for the important part. We finally get to meet Tsukishima’s disciple that we’ve heard so much about. Congratulations on passing the entrance exam.”

“Of course he passed, he was _my_ disciple after all”, Tsukki said and ruffled Tadashi’s hair.

He had not been prepared for that. Tsukki was bragging with him. _Tsukki was bragging with him._ The colour of his face had to resemble a tomato and a bright grin was tugging at the edges of his lips but he kept his facial expression even.

“Thanks, Tsukki did help me out a lot.”

“So...” Kuroo’s smirk suddenly got a dark edge. “You’ve been childhood friends with Tsukishima, right?”

“Kuroo, don’t even think about it”, Tsukki said.

“Please, tell us some embarrassing childhood stories!”

Tadashi could feel Tsukki’s menacing stare on him but the he was just starting the get along with his flatmates, it was his duty to tell some entertaining stories.

“Sorry Tsukki!”, he said apologetically. Then he turned to the others with a mischievous grin. “Well...he had a phase were he would run around with his headphones on even in the house when he was mad so nobody could talk to him.”

“What a grumpy kid, that sounds just like you”, Bokuto laughed.

Of course that had only been the tip of the iceberg, he had a lot of stories to tell. It was getting late when Tadashi finally got up from the couch to go home.

“Feel free to stop by any time even if Tsukishima isn’t here, you still owe us the story behind the dinosaur onesie.” That was when Tsukki had interrupted and ended their little nostalgic trip to the past.

“No, I’m sure he doesn’t”, Tsukki said, holding Tadashi’s jacket while he put his shoes on. “In case you need anything you know where to go now. There’s always someone at home so if there are any problems just come here.”

\--

When Tadashi reached his dorm room he flopped down on his bed, pressing his face into the pillow. His heart was hammering in his chest now that he allowed himself to let the feelings overwhelm him. This was an average day. He could see Tsukki whenever he wanted to.  

He was texting with Ennoshita, his friend from school, while making himself something to eat. They had both gone to different universities, which was a petty but they tried to stay in touch. Ennoshita had arrived at his dorm the same day as Tadashi and they were both equally nervous about their first day at uni.

Tadashi had to use the microwave, so he carried his plate to the large kitchen. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to close the door to his dorm room. He saw people leaving it open from time to time but maybe you only did that if you were still in the room. He had no idea but he closed his. Better safe than sorry.

He had assumed there wouldn’t be many people using the kitchen since not many people had arrived yet but there was already a very familiar face waiting for some pizza in the oven to be ready.

“Yamaguchi! You’re at the same dorm?” Lev was leaning against the counter.

“Hey, nice to see you again! I assume you passed the entrance exam too so congrats”, he said.

“Thanks, same goes for you. Kenma got accepted as well, he’s also staying here”, Lev explained. “Oh, are you waiting for the oven?”

Tadashi shook his head. “I only need the microwave.”

Lev was blocking it so he got up and hit his head against one of the shelves.

“Are you alright?” Tadashi put his plate down to look at his head.

“It’s fine, this happens way too often.” Lev pouted and gave the shelf a look like it had offended him personally.

Since he wasn’t bleeding he had to be alright so Tadashi put his food in the microwave but he insisted on Lev putting a wet cloth on his head to cool it a bit. Kenma had to be the guy he had stumbled over. So they all got in and stayed at the same dorm. Tadashi was relieved. He wasn’t sure if they’d get along but at least they could all be clueless together until they got the hang of university.

**Author's Note:**

> I included a lot of time skips, don't worry, they won't happen that frequently in the future. I just wanted to try something new, let me know if you liked them or not. This was also the only chapter that mentions their parents a lot.
> 
> It's been a while since I wrote the prequel to this and back then I didn't pay much attention to where the story was set or how the characters adress each other. Looking back I'm not too happy with some choices so I used the chance and changed them here, so there might be some small differences between this work and the prequel.  
> I missed this au and I had a lot of fun writing for it again, I hope you liked it!


End file.
